1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telecommunications network and, in particular, to a subscriber feature within such a network for overriding an anonymous call rejection capability associated with a terminating subscriber.
2. Description of Related Art
A number of advanced subscriber features are provided within a Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) telecommunications network to telecommunications subscribers. With the capability to transport data other than mere voice, advanced subscriber features like a Calling Party Identification, CLASS Automatic Recall (CAR), and Anonymous Call Rejection (ACR) are available. From the contents of an Integrated Service User Part (ISUP) call setup signal, a terminating subscriber is able to determine the directory number or name associated with an originating subscriber before answering a call. Furthermore, in cases where the originating subscriber refuses to disclose the subscriber identity in the setup signal, the Anonymous Call Rejection (ACR) feature denies the requested call setup and no incoming call connection is established.
There are, however, certain instances where an individual needs to effectuate a call connection with a particular subscriber without disclosing the directory number associated therewith. As an illustration, most medical professionals utilize an answering service for providing nonbusiness hour medical assistance. Patients are instructed to call the answering service, describe their symptoms, and if appropriate, the doctor is then paged by the answering service. The doctor may then establish a call connection with the patient and provide any necessary medical services. In order to maintain their privacy and to prevent the patient from directly calling back the doctor, medical professionals typically do not want to disclose their associated directory numbers while establishing a call connection with the patient. The answering service is instead preferred to be utilized as a focal point for receiving and screening all incoming calls. Accordingly, the directory number associated with the doctor is not disclosed or specified as a private number within the transmitted call setup signal. However, if the patient has the ACR feature active, the call connection request is accordingly denied due to the doctor's refusal to disclose his or her identity.
Therefore, for certain emergency situations, there is a need for a mechanism to enable a calling party subscriber to override the anonymous call rejection feature associated with the called party subscriber.